Souhegan holds on for lacrosse win

AMHERST – The Souhegan High School boys lacrosse team got off to a great start in Tuesday’s opener against Manchester Memorial.

The Sabers led 5-0 at halftime and were up eight in the third quarter before they let the Crusaders fight for some life. Memorial picked up a couple of goals in the fourth quarter, but Souhegan held on for an 8-4 win in Division I action.

“We started out well in the first half,” Souhegan coach Jonathan Salch said. “I thought the first half, we did all right. We didn’t play four quarters though. We have a lot to work on.”

After taking the big lead, the Sabers (1-0) struggled getting back on defense, which led to plenty of opportunities for the Crusaders (0-1). They were just unable to take advantage of them.

Brendon Laine led the way for Souhegan, scoring three goals. Zadek Burstein also had two goals while Adam Stokes, Charlie Almeida and Madison Bird each had a goal as well.

The Sabers took a 3-0 lead into the second period, and stretched the lead to four goals about a minute into the second. Souhegan added another goal before halftime and went right back to work out of the break.

Burstein helped Souhegan score three goals in a two-minute stretch early in the third quarter, putting the Sabers up 8-0.

But that was all the scoring Souhegan would get. Memorial got on the board with 7:05 left in the third, making 8-1. Despite their efforts, the Crusaders went a full period without scoring, when they finally got a goal with 6:29 remaining in the game.

Memorial added two more goals, but it was too late for the Crusaders to come back.

“We’re subbing a lot of guys through, we have a lot of new faces and we have a lot of injuries right now,” Salch said. “We have a lot of new faces on new lines, even in new positions in the second half. We’ll get better though and we’ll be all right.”